Fantasifestivalen 26
Fantasifestivalen 26 is the 26th edition of the Swedish music competition Fantasifestivalen, which selects Sweden's entry for the North Vision Song Contest 26. The competition is organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and takes place during the period of Late Summer/Autumn 2018. The format of the competition consisted of six shows again: four semi-final rounds, a second chance round and a final. The 28 competing entries were divided into four semi-finals, with seven compositions in each. From each semifinal, the songs that earn first and second place will qualify directly to the final, while the songs that place third and fourth proceed to the Second Chance round. The bottom three songs in each semifinal become eliminated from the competition. An additional four entries qualify from the Second Chance round to the final, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 12. All six shows are hosted by Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Fab Freddie. Format Fantasifestivalen 26, organised by Sveriges Television (SVT), was the second edition of the contest in a row in which the competition took place in different cities across Sweden. The four semi-finals are held at the Vida Arena in Växjö (26 August), the Linköping Arena in Linköping (30 August 2018), the Helsingborg Arena in Helsingborg (4 September 2018) and the Conventum Arena in Örebro (9 September 2018). The Second Chance round will take place at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg (14 September 2018) while the final will be held at the Friends Arena (28 September 2018) in Stockholm. Twenty-eight entries compete in the semi-finals, with seven entries taking part in each show. The top two entries from each semi-final advance directly to the final, while the third and fourth placed entries advance to the Second Chance round. The bottom three entries in each semi-final become eliminated. An additional four entries qualify to the final from the Second Chance round, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to twelve. Entry selection Entries for the 26th competition have been selected through two methods: *14 entries were chosen by a selection panel from submissions received by SVT through an open call for songs. *14 entries were selected by SVT via special invitations to artists and songwriters. SVT opened two submission contests that accepted entries between 1 June and 12 August 2018 for interested artists and songwriters to submit their proposals for the competition. The Regular contest was open for entries that had at least one songwriter that already had a musical work published, while the Public contest accepted entries from songwriters without previously published musical work. Entries submitted for the competition were required to be new compositions which had never been published and between 2–4 minutes in length. The choice of language was free. Presenters At a press conference in August 2018, Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Fab Freddie were presented as the main hosts for all six shows of Fantasifestivalen 26. Ingrosso has previously taken part in the nineteenth and the twenty-fourth edition of Fantasifestivalen, while Sandman has previously taken part in the thirteenth and the fifteenth edition as part of The Fooo Conspiracy. Voting During the six shows, viewers can cast their votes through telephone, SMS and mobile application voting. For telephone and SMS voting, viewers were able to cast their vote through two different voting lines per voting method: a regular line costing 3.60 SEK and a donation line costing 9.90 SEK of which 8.90 SEK was donated to the charity organisation Radiohjälpen. Up to 20 votes can be cast per phone number per voting line, allowing a single phone number to contribute a maximum of 80 votes in each round of voting. With the mobile application, each device can send up to 5 votes for free per entry. The results of the semi-finals and Second Chance round are determined solely by viewer votes, while in the final, the results a redetermined through a 50/50 combination of viewer votes and the votes of eleven international jury groups. Competing entries The twenty-eight competing artists were announced all at once on a press conference. The official entries will be presented shortly before their semi-finals, respectively. Semi-finals As in several previous editions, Fantasifestivalen commences with four semi-finals, which determine the eight entries that advance directly to the final and the eight entries that qualify to the Second Chance round. The running order for the semi-finals are announced shortly before the semi-final. The semi-final results are based solely on viewer votes. Two rounds of voting take place in each semi-final to determine which entries would advance further and which entries would be eliminated. All seven competing entries in each semi-final participate in the first round of voting where the top five advances to the second round, while the bottom two are eliminated. In the second round of voting, the two entries that occupy the first and second places qualify directly to the final, while the third and fourth placed entries proceed to the Second Chance round. The fifth placed entry is eliminated. All votes from the second round of voting are added to the votes that each entry received from the first round of voting in order to determine the final outcome. Semi-final 1 The first semi-final took place on 26 August 2018 at the Vida Arena in Växjö, hosted by Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Fab Freddie. Semi-final 2 The second semi-final took place on 30 August 2018 at the Linköping Arena in Linköping, hosted by Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Fab Freddie. Semi-final 3 The third semi-final took place on 4 September 2018 at the Helsingborg Arena in Helsingborg, hosted by Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Fab Freddie. Semi-final 4 The fourth semi-final took place on 9 September 2018 at the Conventum Arena in Örebro, hosted by Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Fab Freddie. Second Chance round The second chance round took place on 14 September 2018 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, hosted by Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Fab Freddie. Final The final of Fantasifestivalen 26 took place on 28 September 2018 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, hosted by Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Fab Freddie. Twelve songs compete — two qualifiers from each of the four preceding semi-finals and four qualifiers from the Second Chance round. A mix of televoting/SMS voting and international jury voting will select the winner. Category:National selections